Snap-in lock



. T A Feb. 7, 1933. CARM'CHAEF E L 1,896,509

SNAP- I N LOCK Filed June 25, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 7, 1933. Q w A cARMlcHAEL ET AL 1,896,509

SNAP-IN LOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 25, 1929 jlm M (Imus Patented Feb. 7, 1933 enamel. Chili [Chub or HAMDEN,

* oF Fice MIDI-FRANKLIN BARF-3.0.1 N W connnorrour, newness; To 0. OWLEsfAND COMPANY, OF NEW HAVEN, con- 'l u'aeon filed June- 25,

1 This invention relates to .a door latch or It hasforan objiecttoprovide an inipi t' l mha d leek. eon r c ion. which, does n requirethe setting of any screws in assembling the handlein thedoor so as to reduce he ,c st. of. ins allation, to do away with screws in the escutcheon in the outsidelof the djooig and to preventkreniovalzof thehandle topermitoperation of the latch by detach ment ofthe escutcheon'. a o e It is also an objectofithe invention toprovide a, latch or look construction invwhich the handle and latch operating spindle may be assembled in the door by merely pushingit intopositio-n to thus reduce the cost of installation. '.V 7 It is another object of the invention toprovide, a construction in which the handle can be removed only when the door is. in the open position, and therefore, when the doorvis locked it is impossible to remove the handle to gain access to the latch or locking means. -With the foregoingand other objects in View, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combinations and arrangements of parts as will be more fully disclosed in connection with the accompanying drawings, r

In these drawings, I I I I v Fig; 1 is a transverse section through a portion or an automobile-door, its adjacent jamb and our improved lock construction, the section being substantially on line of Fig.2 Fig. 2 is an inner View of the latchfremoved from the door, theplane of the view being substantially on line 2 2 of Eig l F 1g. 3 is a detail section substantiallyon line3' 3'ofF ig.'2. I s p Fig. 4 is a sectionsiniilar to 1 of a portion of the dtore d latch only showing how the deviee is used with a; latch without Fig; 5 is an enlarged detail section of l t pf fi .m' n ti fis hovth Se- Qfl e' fll iis. time snide. ay be released to permit rem'ovalof thehandle.

' forcing toposition therein.

R g, 10 is a secti o' n absaaan 611 like 10+10 of Fi 4, nd o ';,;Figj.,f11 is a detail section line 11 11 of Fig. 2. i i ,A common construction of latch and look I f r anemo the s aid: ,of the handle which is secured ,to the'out'erjsurface of the door by meanspf ser ews, ;This construction has numerous ob jections that the appearanceof the screws is objectlonable as, mar-ring the appearance oi thempi'esentstyle of body, and inassembling thereis' oftenconsiderable diflicultyin lining up. the holes in the escutcheon, door and latch, Also, in installing these handles, onlthe job substantially a pensive. Another objection to thistypepf 0 construction is, that often .an unauthoriz ed person can take out the screws of the escutoh; eon andremove the handle so as to gain ac;-

alarger scale.-

doors has an escutcheon about thereis often atendency forthe screw driver cess to the latch for retracting it to open the door. 7, 1 I e Weh'a've overcome these difficuljties androb; jection's, with a .very simple 7 construction which requires no screws in assennbl ingi and which may, be applied tothe door by merely this by a very simple mechanism as Q apparent, from the .accol npanying,drawings. Iheupright edge member of the frameofwan automobile dooris indicated. at 12 with: the outersheetmetal covering indicated at,1;3; jamb of the door lelhas the usual metal keeper ,lI5 cooperating with the nose ldofithe latch bolt l7 whichis' guidedifor reciprocat; ingmove'ments as in the usual construction. lnjthe present construction ,it' is .guidedaby,

. a headed rivet 1s sliding in a slot 19 in me We have done rear wall of the latch casing and also in an opening 21 in the portion 22 of the casing bent around on the edge of the door. It is also guided between the cars 23 on the front wall, and a spring 24 reacting against the shoulder 25 of the laterally extending arm 26 of the latch tends to shift the latch to the left as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2 to the holding position. g V

Mounted to turn in the wall 20 and ,a substantially U-shaped strap 27 secured to the rear surface of this wall, is a follower or bushing 28 which has a noncircular openingg29 therethrough to receive the similarly shaped latch operating spindle 30; Usually the spin dle 30 is a iece of square bar and is fastened to the shanli 31 of the handle 32 on the outside ofthe door. The follower 28 carries a cam 33 which has an arm 34 engaging the free end of the arm 26 on the latch bolt, the cam'being provided with a noncircular opening to receive the noncircular portion 35 of the follower so as to turn therewith. y Between the cam and flange 36 on the follower is a washer 37 holding one end 38 of a spring mounted on a stud 39 on the arm 34. The other arm 40 of this spring engages a catch 41' mounted on the opposite side of the flange 36 and mounted for limited lateral movement on the follower. 28. That is, the follower is provided with parallel surfaces/42 on the opposite sides thereof on which the catch slides, the width of the opening 43 in this catch being suflicient to permit the movement desired. One side wall of this opening is provided with a tongue 44 to project across a 1n portion of the opening 29 in the follower and engage ina notch 45 in one side of the latch operating spindle 30 to hold this spindle against longitudinal movement in the follower and secure thespindle and handle in proper position in the door. 7

Mounted on the spindle and shank 31 is a sleeve or collar 46 and it is mounted toslide longitudinally thereon. On one or both sides, preferably on diametrically opposite sides, this sleeve is slotted and the walls or slots forced outwardly to form longitudinal flanges 47 on opposite sides of the slots. The inner endof the sleeve is closed as shown at 48.while its outer'end is'turned laterally and inwardly as shown at 49 to form a flange or collar about the shank on the outside ofthe door. The metal covering of the shank 31 of the handle extends inwardly over the end of the shank to form a shoulder 50 and mounted on the spindle between this shoulder and the end 48.0f the sleeve is a Washer having lateral projections 51 extending into the slots formed by the flanges 47. Between this washer and the end 48 is a compression spring 52 while a second washer 53 is mounted on the spindle inwardly of the end 48 and is held against inwardmov'ement by the lugs 54 struck up from the spindle. It will be apparent from this construction that the spring 52 pressing against the washer 51 at its shoulder 50 tends to force the handle and spindle outwardly, while pressure of this spring at its other end against the closed end 48 of the sleeve 46 tends to-force this sleeve inwardly and press the edge of the collar 49 against the outer surface 13 of the door.

In applying thehandle 32 and the spindle 30 it will, of course, be understood the hole or passage 55 is bored in the member 12 in alignment with the follower 28 and is counterbored at its outer end as shown at 56, and a similar opening 57 is provided in the metal plate 13. At opposite sides of this opening 57, however, are provided notches 58 to receive the flanges 47 of the sleeve 46 (see particularly Fig. 6) and prevent this sleeve 46 turning in the door while at thesame time permitting the sleeve to have movements at The latch bar right angles to the door. 17 with the follower and associated mechanism is assembled on the plate 20 without the spindle 30 and is applied as so assembled to the door. In applying the handle 32 of the spindle 30 all that is necesary is to insert the spindle 3O into the follower 28 until the tongue 44 of the latch 41 seats in the notch 45 in the spindle. The end of the spindle is inclined'as shown at 59 so that as the spindle is inserted in the follower, this inclined wall reacts against the tongue 44 to retract the catch as this tongue 44 projects through this notch 28 in the follower 28 and into alignment with the noncircular open- 29. As the spindle is inserted the flanges 47 of thecollar 46 seat in the notches 58 in the sheet metal front wall 13 and'prevent this collar turning in thedoor. The lengths of the elements are so proportioned that when the spindle is in position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the free edge of the collar 49 engages the front surface of the plate 13 and forces the collar outwardly somewhat to compress thespring 52 as shown in these-figures. "The spring 52, therefore, tends to force the spindle outwardly against the action of the catch 41 andalso presses the free edge of the collar 49 against the outer'surface of the, door, and therefore, prevents looseness and rattling ofthe parts in the door and compensates-for variations in the thickness of the doors incident to manufac- .ture,-so that in spite of these variations the handle is properly positioned in the door. It will be obvious-that the simple act of forcing the spindle into the door automatically fastens the spindle and handle in position, and therefore, no other assembling operationsare required. Therefore, there are no screws to be applied to the outside of the door, doing awaywith the expense of applying these screws, the objectionableap pearance of theseiscrews and the dangerof niarring the finish inapplying them. It

turning the cylinder 62 under action of will, of course, be understood that the central openings in the wall 48 and washer 51 through which the spindle passes are sufii as shown in Fig. 5. However, it will-be apparent that as the opening is in the edge of the door it is inaccessible except when the door is open, and therefore, when the door is locked it is impossible for an unauthorized person to remove the handle and spindle to thus gain access to the latch operating mechanism. It will, however, be

apparent that the act of removing the handle and spindle is a very simple one and does not require the removal of any screws or bolts. As the elements of the catch 41 and its spring 38'40 are mounted onthe follower or bushing 28 they turn with it and are always in the same relation to each other. In the present construction the outward movement of the latch bolt 17 under action of its spring 24 is limited by engagement of the arm 34 against the wall 22 as shown in Figs. 1 and 11.

In Fig. 4 the handle is shown without a locking means while in Fig. 1 is shown how a locking means may be applied to this handle, it being the usual practice to apply both types to a car. That is, in four door cars, three doors would have the handle without the lock, the latch being locked by separate locking means accessible from the interior of the car, while the fourth door is provided with a handle which has to be locked from the outside, such as the handle shown in Fig. 1. The construction of the latch and the remainder of the handle are the same whether used with or without a lock and the handle is applied in the same way by merely forcing it into position with the end of the spindle in the follower 28 where it is held by the catch 41. Mounted in the shank 31 of the handle is a lock cylinder 62 which is rotatable in the handle. It carries an eccentric pin 63 projecting into a transverse slot in a locking bolt 64. This bolt is mounted to reciprocate in the transverse passage 65 in the shank by the key 66. The bolt 64 is reciprocated by the pin 63 to move the free end of the bolt to or from the slots formed by the flanges Thus when the bolt is in the position of Figs. 1 and 6 with its outer end between one set of flanges 47 the bolt locks the handle against turning because the sleeve 46 is held against turning by coaction of the flanges 47 with the'sides of the notches 58. The-cylinder 62 may be held in position-by the transverse pin 67 in a peripheral groove in the cylinder. The cylinder lock 62 may be of any stand.

ard type controlled by pins or tumblers 68.

The member shown at 69 is connected to the latch bolt by a lost motion connection involving the pin's 70 and 71 and slots 7 2 and 7 3, and

is connected a link 74to any suitable means- (not shown) accessible at the inner side of the door for manipulating the latch from the interior of the car.

It will be obvious'from the foregoing .de-

scription that the lock is of very simple construction and may be assembled in the door with a minimum of labor, and thus assembly cost is greatly reduced over the old types and we have done away entirely with the screws at the outer surface of the door.

to the usual variations in thethickness of the doors incident to manufacture. i

Having thus set forth the nature of our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a door latch, a movable latch bolt, a handlehaving a n0n-circular latch operating Also that the construction automatically adapts itself spindle, a bushing having a non-circular opening. to receive said spindle and having spaced guiding surfaces, the bushing for shifting the latch bolt, a shoulder carried by the spindle, a catch carried by the bushing and having an opening therethrough with opposite sides of the openguide surfaces for lateral sliding movement,

means operated by mg guided for sliding movement by said surfor yieldingly holding the means operated bythe bushing for ice and a spring tending to shift the catch to a 1 position in front of the shoulder tov retain the spindle in the bushing.

3. In a doorlatch, a movable latch bolt, a handle having. a non-circular latch operating spindle, a bushing having an non-circular opening-to receive said spindle and having spaced guiding surfaces, means operated b the bushing for shifting the latch bolt, a

shoulder carried by the spindle, a movable catch carried by said bushing and provided with an 'openlng to receive said bushing and guided by edges of said opening on said surfaces for lateral sliding movement, 'a spring r30 tending to hold the catch in front of the shoulder to retain the spindle in the bushing, and the end of the spindle being inclined to engage the catch and retract it against the 7 action of the spring as the spindle is inserted in the bushing.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures.

WILLIAM A. GARMIGHAEL.

FRANKLIN H. HART. 

